Sleep quality improves, but not much help with hot flashes.

Two hundred forty-eight women who were troubled by frequent hot flashes were randomly assigned to continue their usual activities or to take part in an aerobic training program that included exercise training three times a week for 12 weeks. Exercise was associated with small improvements in sleep quality, insomnia, and depression, but not with an overall improvement in hot flashes.

There were some differences in hot flash improvement according to baseline fitness and race. Women in the exercise group who were fitter at the start of the study and white women did show some improvements in hot flashes.

“Midlife women cannot expect exercise to relieve [hot flashes and night sweats] but may reasonably expect it to improve how they feel and their overall health,” said the researchers.